Marc-Antoine Charpentier

Marc-Antoine Charpentier Biography

Marc-Antoine Charpentier (1643 - February 24, 1704) was a French composer of the Baroque era. He was a prolific and versatile composer, principally of sacred vocal music, and was one of the most famous contemporaries of Jean-Baptiste Lully.

Life

He was born in or near Paris. Little is known of his early life, and even the approximate date of his birth is questioned; it is known that he was a 'young man' when he studied in Rome, probably between 1662 and 1667. While in Rome he studied with Giacomo Carissimi; an old legend of his going to Rome to study painting, prior to his musical talent being discovered by Carissimi, is undocumented. Certainly he acquired a solid knowledge of contemporary Italian practice, which he brought back to France.

Most likely he worked for the Duchess of Guise on his return to France, as her mâitre de musique—music master—and singer, until her death in 1688. During this time he composed a considerable quantity of dramatic secular vocal works, including psalm settings, hymns, a Magnificat setting, a mass, and motets (which he called oratorios, confusingly).

Music, style and influence

His compositions include oratorios, masses, operas, and numerous smaller pieces which are difficult to categorize. Many of his smaller works for one or two voices and instruments resemble the Italian cantata of the time, and share most features except for the name: Charpentier calls them air sérieux or air à boire if they are in French, but cantatas if they are in Italian.